Most editors don’t mind if you write a bit longer than assigned. I was asked to write 900 to 1,000 words about Old Crow Medicine Show for The Press Democrat, so it would have been fine, for example, to submit 1,100 words. Yet my interview with bandleader Ketch...
After a decade of honing his craft and playing gritty clubs, Robert Cray burst onto the blues scene in the mid-1980s and became a global sensation. None other than B.B. King anointed him as the great blues hope who could carry the torch to the next generation. Cray...
Sometimes a story comes along that breaks your heart before you start interviewing. And then when you get to know the subjects it becomes even more wrenching yet at the same time uplifting. The story of aspiring musician Bernie Dalton, who refused to let the loss of...
Sometimes, if you’ve worked with an editor for a while, she approaches you with an assignment. And occasionally she opens the door to your dream story. When my editor at Inspirato suddenly had an opening for a feature and asked me to pitch a story about Chicago,...
Martin Scorsese is the executive producer of a forthcoming doc about the Dead, but it may not be released for a while. To read the story on the Press Democrat’s site, click here. BY MICHAEL SHAPIRO FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT If you happened to visit Olompali...
As a kid in the ’70s, I enjoyed Boz Scaggs’ hits, such as “Lido.” But it wasn’t until I heard his blues classic “Loan Me a Dime” that I realized what a masterful musician he is. It was a pleasure to interview the easygoing and...
